Tom Brady Says Work-Life Balance Doesn’t Exist Because “You Are Who You Are”

There has been a lot of attention on Tom Brady lately, and it’s not all because of his football season (which doesn’t count among his best so far). He’s taken heat recently for his quick turnaround from retirement; he made some awkward comments about not letting his his 9-year-old daughter date anyone and compared the start of the football season to military deployment.

But the husband and dad of three also recently spoke about work-life balance, specifically how it’s impossible to achieve as a football player. And it’s a strange opinion to have about work-life balance especially when you’re a parent.

Brady has a podcast called “Let’s Go!” and on October 17, he spoke about many different topics, including football, his home life, and the military. In the conversation, Brady essentially said that there is no such thing as work-life balance, so he doesn’t strive for it, per Today.

“As much as you want to have this playful balance with the work balance, you’re going to end up doing exactly what you’ve always done, which is why you are who you are," the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback said. In other words: it sounds like Tom Brady thinks it’s impossible to juggle the responsibilities of work and the responsibilities of home, something that many working parents do every single day.

Yes, Struggling with a work-life balance is no cakewalk. It is a constant pain point for many working parents. And the tensions can run really high when one parent feels they’re pulling more of the weight at home or at work — or that one parent is valuing work way more than home. And rumors suggest that sounds like Brady is experiencing that with his wife and mom of his two younger kids, Gisele Bündchen.

In the past few weeks, Brady’s personal life has been in the spotlight, with both he and his wife having reportedly hired divorce lawyers — and rumors suggest that Gisele was frustrated with Brady’s decision to return to football after saying he would retire to spend more time with his family.

Which is what makes it ironic in his podcast that although Brady says he wants to find a strong work-life balance, he seems to not be able to figure it out, saying that his “competitiveness takes over.” And then he’s pulled back into football and away from his family.

And his comments on his lack of care for finding any sort of work-life balance might just shed light on the situation. Parenting isn’t a choice, but his comments certainly make it sound like he might think that. And that would be frustrating for any co-parent.